Technology can provide accessible, inclusive environment for persons with disabilities: Minister Puri

“India has a huge population that has to contend with some form of disability. According to the 2011 Census, approximately 26.8 million persons live in India with disabilities, of which around 8 million people live in urban areas. What is noteworthy is that these 26.8 million people constituted only about 2.21 percent of the Indians. This figure is significantly lower than the global average of 15 percent that the WHO regards as being the share of persons with disabilities,” he said.

It is estimated that nearly 70 percent of those who need assistive technology do not have access to it in India.

“These facts mean that persons living with disabilities are constantly competing just to gain access to essential resources. The lack of accessibility curtails their access to transport services, sanitation, health, education, and other public services. As a result, most vulnerable populations are invariably excluded,” he said.

India expanded the list of recognized disabilities from 7 to 21 after the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act of 2016. “This implies that a significantly higher number of people live with some form of disability in India than earlier estimated. The new Census will give a truer picture of this reality very soon,” he said.

He said there is a need to build sustainable and universally accessible spaces and find policy solutions to accommodate persons with disabilities.

Advocating the need for universal design, Puri said that "It is an urgent need of our society, and especially in our cities where the level of exclusion is much more profound. The principle of ‘Leaving No One Behind’, which is the motto of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is entirely applicable here. More specifically, moving towards universal design will help in achieving Target 11.7 of the SDGs, which is ‘By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive, and accessible, green, and public spaces, for women and children, older persons, and persons with disabilities,” he added.

The minister pointed out that the “best solutions are always simple, cater to specific pain points, have clear benefits, and are widely accepted by users."

He noted that two cities under the Smart Cities Mission, Belagavi and Sagar, have developed solutions that have been implemented. While Belagavi has developed a comprehensive tool for education and literacy for low-income families, Sagar has developed the ‘Nirbhaya App’ to enhance women safety in the city.

Shombi Sharp, the UN Resident Coordinator in India;  Kunal Kumar, Joint Secretary and Mission Director, Smart City Mission, MoHUA and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

“Accessibility remains the bedrock of inclusion, and an inclusive environment provides equal access and economic opportunities for all. We need to talk about integrating accessible and inclusive tech with mainstream technologies,” said Sharp.

Kumar termed technology as a game-changer and reiterated the significant role of a citizen-centric approach in the success of the Smart Cities Mission.

These awards are an initiative of the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and the United Nations (UN) in India to address city-level accessibility and inclusion challenges faced by persons with disabilities (PwD), women and girls, and the elderly.

Launched this April, the Smart Solutions and Inclusive Cities Awards 2022 have been designed with the aim of promoting people-centric design and to foster novel home-grown technological innovations and solutions.

Over 100 entries were received through an open call for applications, out of which the top 10 technology-based innovations were identified as winning solutions after an intensive round of screenings and shortlisting by an eminent 7-member jury panel.

The top 10 technology-based solutions were awarded the Inclusive Cities Awards 2022. The first category, Early-stage Innovations, was won by Fifth Sense by Glovatrix Pvt. Ltd; Digital Mobility Subsidy by Ola Mobility Institute and AxcesAble Places by AxcesAble Designs LLP.

The second category,  Market-ready Solutions, was presented to Mouseware by Dextroware Devices; Signer.AI by Incluistic Pvt. Ltd. / Friends for Inclusion and IncluMaps by Vikas Upadhyay, Research Scholar, IIT Delhi.

The third category, Implemented Solutions, was given to Multi-Dimensional Inclusiveness: Using Advanced Technologies for Education and Literacy by Belagavi Smart City Ltd; myUDAAN by Tekra Solutions Pvt. Ltd; ‘Moving with Pride’ (Mo Bus and Mo E-Ride) by Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT), Odisha and Nirbhaya App by Sagar Smart City Ltd.

A Compendium of Smart and Innovative Solutions for an Inclusive & Accessible Urban Future was also launched at the event. The compendium compiles selected solutions that were shortlisted for Phase 2 of the evaluation process, to document and disseminate information about the available technological innovations and good practices within India which can further be used as a resource by urban practitioners in cities and countries across the world, particularly in lower-income settings.